Six exceptional
teachers have been selected as recipients of the 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate
Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. This week, Purdue Today will
feature a profile on each of the recipients. Today, we focus on Eric
Barker, professor of medicinal
chemistry and molecular pharmacology in the College of Pharmacy.

When Eric Barker lectures, he does so with the same enthusiasm
and gusto he had the first time he presented the topic -- even if he's actually
taught it a dozen times or more.

Making sure he lectures enthusiastically is just one way Barker
keeps his teaching accessible and interesting. To ensure that his students
truly understand the subject -- and to ensure that they become knowledgeable
professionals once they graduate -- Barker employs several techniques,
including storytelling, technology and mentorship.

Beside his passion for his field, Barker also is known for
making difficult and complex topics sound relatively easy and simple. Doing so
can be challenge, Barker says, because he teaches about such complicated things,
such as drugs that affect the brain and the nervous system as well as a variety
of drugs used to treat high blood pressure.

"The
anatomy and physiology of the kidney, for example, can be quite complex," says
Barker, who is also the College of Pharmacy's associate dean for research.

"When I
teach my students about it, I try to separate the kidney's anatomy into several
individual parts, and then I go over each part slowly. When we're done, we use
knowledge of the kidney's anatomy to piece it back together. I use my whole
body as a model to help illustrate this anatomy, so I can point out each part
of the whole."

Using stories to
help illustrate complicated concepts is another of Barker's signature techniques.
For example, when describing the body's autonomic nervous system -- and
specifically the "fight or flight" instinct -- Barker describes
different several scary situations. He then details how the body reacts to
each.

Barker has been
using online streaming for 14 years to post recordings of his lectures.

Specifically, he
creates five-minute videos to address common questions students have about several
of his subject's more complicated, confusing topics. The videos' effectiveness
shows, Barker says, in that undergraduates rarely ask the same questions they
did before he made the videos.

Making sure
students thoroughly understand his complicated course material is important
because they may have to apply it one day to help make patients healthier,
Barker says.

"To know
how to apply the information, first students must truly understand the concepts
and material," Barker says. "Making sure they are able to understand
and apply their new knowledge is one of my biggest goals as a teacher."